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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 245 (Friday, December 20, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 104234-104236]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30364]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 72-70, 50-373, and 50-374; NRC-2024-0205]

Constellation Energy Generation, LLC; LaSalle County Station 
Units 1 and 2; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an 
environmental assessment (EA) and a finding of no significant impact 
(FONSI) for an exemption request submitted by Constellation Energy 
Generation, LLC (CEG), that would permit LaSalle County Station (LSCS) 
to maintain four loaded and to load four 68M multi-purpose canister 
(MPC) with continuous basket shims (CBS) in the HI-STORM 100 Cask 
System at its LSCS Units 1 and 2 independent spent fuel storage 
installation (ISFSI) in a storage condition where the terms, 
conditions, and specifications in the Certificate of Compliance (CoC) 
No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1, are not met.

DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on 
December 20, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0205 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0205. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the ``For Further 
Information Contact'' section of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS 
Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public 
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected]. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
     NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. To make an 
appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martin Ortiz Gonzalez, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3637; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is reviewing an exemption request from CEG, dated September 
19, 2024. CEG is requesting an exemption, pursuant to section 72.7 of 
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), in paragraphs 
72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and 72.214 
that require CEG to comply with the terms, conditions, and 
specifications of the CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1. If 
approved, the exemption would allow CEG to maintain four loaded and to 
load four new MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System at the LSCS 
ISFSI in a storage condition where the terms, conditions, and 
specifications in the CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1, 
are not met.

II. Environmental Assessment

Background

    The LSCS site is approximately 75 miles (mi) (120 kilometers (km)) 
southwest of downtown Chicago, Illinois, and approximately 26 mi (42 
km) west of Exelon's Braidwood Station in Braceville, Illinois, and 23 
mi (37 km) southwest of the Dresden Nuclear Power Station near Morris, 
Illinois. Interstate Highway 80 is 8 mi (13 km) north of the site. The 
LSCS site is located in a rural and agricultural setting. The town of 
Seneca lies 6 mi (10 km) northeast of LSCS. The town of Marseilles lies 
7 mi (11 km) north-northwest of LSCS. The Illinois River is 5 mi (8 km) 
north of LSCS. Unit 1 and Unit 2 began operating in 1984. CEG has been 
storing spent fuel in an ISFSI at LSCS under a general license as 
authorized by 10 CFR part 72, subpart K, ``General License for Storage 
of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites.'' CEG currently uses the HI-STORM 
100 Cask System under CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1, 
for dry storage of spent nuclear fuel in a specific MPC (i.e., MPC-68M) 
at the LSCS ISFSI.

Description of the Proposed Action

    The CoC is the NRC-approved design for each dry cask storage 
system. The proposed action would exempt the applicant from the 
requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 
72.212(b)(11), and 72.214 only as these requirements pertain to the use 
of the MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System for the four already 
loaded canisters and the planned loading of four new canisters. The 
exemption would allow CEG to maintain four loaded and to load four new 
MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System at the LSCS ISFSI, despite 
the MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System not being in compliance 
with the terms, conditions, and specifications in the CoC No. 1014, 
Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1.
    The HI-STORM 100 Cask System CoC provides the requirements, 
conditions, and operating limits necessary for use of the system to 
store spent fuel. Holtec International (Holtec), the designer and 
manufacturer of the HI-STORM 100 Cask System, developed a variant of 
the design with continuous basket shims (CBS) for the MPC-68M, known as 
MPC-68M-CBS. Holtec originally implemented the CBS variant design under 
the provisions of 10 CFR 72.48, which allows licensees to make changes 
to cask designs without a CoC amendment under certain conditions 
(listed in 10 CFR 72.48(c)). After evaluating the specific changes to 
the cask designs, the NRC determined that Holtec erred when it 
implemented the CBS variant design under 10 CFR 72.48, as this was not 
the type of change allowed without a CoC amendment. For this reason, 
the NRC issued three Severity Level IV violations to Holtec. CEG had 
previously loaded four MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System and 
plans to load four MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System 
beginning in June 2025. This exemption considers the storage of the

[[Page 104235]]

already loaded systems and the planned loading of the four canisters 
with the CBS variant basket design.

Need for the Proposed Action

    CEG requested this exemption because CEG is currently out of 
compliance with NRC requirements, resulting from the previous loading 
of spent fuel into a storage system with the CBS variant basket design. 
This exemption would allow four already loaded MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-
STORM 100 Cask System to remain in storage at the LSCS ISFSI. The 
exemption would also allow CEG to load four new MPC-68M-CBS in HI-STORM 
100 Cask System at the LSCS ISFSI for the future loading campaign 
scheduled to begin in June 2025.
    Approval of the exemption request would allow CEG to effectively 
manage the margin to full core discharge capability in the spent fuel 
pool. It would also allow CEG to effectively manage the availability of 
the specialized resources and equipment needed to support multiple 
competing priorities at LSCS and throughout CEG's fleet.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    This EA evaluates the potential environmental impacts of granting 
an exemption from the terms, conditions, and specifications in CoC No. 
1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No.1. The exemption would allow four 
already loaded MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask system to remain 
loaded at the LSCS ISFSI. The exemption would also allow four new MPC-
68M-CBS to be loaded in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System in a future 
loading campaign and maintained in storage at the LSCS ISFSI.
    The potential environmental impacts of storing spent nuclear fuel 
in NRC-approved storage systems have been documented in previous 
assessments. On July 18, 1990 (55 FR 29181), the NRC amended 10 CFR 
part 72 to provide for the storage of spent fuel under a general 
license in cask designs approved by the NRC. The EA for the 1990 final 
rule analyzed the potential environmental impacts of using NRC-approved 
storage casks. The EA for the HI-STORM 100 Cask System, CoC No. 1014, 
Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1 (80 FR 49887), published in 2015, tiers 
off of the EA issued for the July 18, 1990, final rule. ``Tiering'' off 
earlier EAs is a standard process encouraged by the regulations 
implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) that 
entails the use of impact analyses of previous EAs to bound the impacts 
of a proposed action where appropriate. The Holtec HI-STORM 100 Cask 
System is designed to mitigate the effects of design basis accidents 
that could occur during storage. Considering the specific design 
requirements for the accident conditions, the design of the cask would 
prevent loss of containment, shielding, and criticality control. If 
there is no loss of containment, shielding, or criticality control, the 
environmental impacts would not be significant.
    The exemptions requested by CEG at the LSCS site as they relate to 
CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No.1, for the HI-STORM 100 Cask 
System are limited to the use of the CBS variant basket design only for 
the four previously loaded canisters and planned loading of four 
canisters utilizing the CBS variant basket design. The NRC staff has 
determined that this change in the basket will not result in either 
radiological or non-radiological environmental impacts that 
significantly differ from the environmental impacts evaluated in the 
environmental assessment supporting the issuance of CoC No. 1014, 
Amendment No. 8, Revision 1. If the exemption is granted, there will be 
no significant change in the types or amounts of any effluents 
released, no significant increase in individual or cumulative public or 
occupational radiation exposure, and no significant increase in the 
potential for or consequences from radiological accidents. Accordingly, 
the Commission concludes that there would be no significant 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.

Alternative to the Proposed Action

    CEG considered requesting that Holtec provide eight fully compliant 
canisters for the June 2025 campaign. However, CEG expects that Holtec 
will not be able to meet this request based on current manufacturing 
schedules. Additionally, CEG considered delaying the start of the 2025 
campaign until Amendment No. 19 of the HI-STORM 100 CoC is approved. 
This delay would result in the LSCS ISFSI campaign needing to pull 
specialty resources which would otherwise be required to support other 
CEG refueling and ISFSI campaigns.
    The NRC staff considered the no-action alternative. The no-action 
alternative (denial of the exemption request) would require LSCS to 
unload spent fuel from the MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System 
to bring it in compliance with the CoC terms, conditions, and 
specifications in the CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No 1. 
Unloading the cask would subject station personnel to additional 
radiation exposure, generate additional contaminated waste, increase 
the risk of a possible fuel handling accident, and increase the risk of 
a possible heavy load handling accident. Furthermore, the removed spent 
fuel would need to be placed in the spent fuel pool, where it would 
remain until it could be loaded into an approved storage cask. Not 
allowing the planned future loading campaign could affect LSCS's 
ability to manage the margin to full core discharge capability. It 
could also pose challenges to spent fuel heat removal and impact the 
availability of the specialized resources and equipment needed to 
support competing fuel loading and operational activities at LSCS, 
including spent fuel pool clean-up and refueling outages. The NRC has 
determined that the no-action alternative would result in undue 
potential human health and safety impacts that could be avoided by 
proceeding with the proposed exemption, especially given that the NRC 
staff has concluded in NRC's Safety Determination Memorandum, issued 
with respect to the enforcement action against Holtec regarding these 
violations, that fuel can be stored safely in the MPC-68M-CBS 
canisters.

Agencies Consulted

    The NRC provided the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and 
Office of Homeland Security (IL-IEMA-OHS) a copy of this draft EA for 
review by an email dated November 22, 2024. On November 27, 2024, IL-
IEMA-OHS provided its concurrence by email.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The environmental impacts of the proposed action have been reviewed 
in accordance with the requirements in 10 CFR part 51, which implement 
NEPA. Based upon the foregoing environmental assessment, the NRC finds 
that the proposed action of granting the exemption from the regulations 
in 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11) 
and 72.214, which require the licensee to comply with the terms, 
conditions, and specifications of the CoC, in this case limited to the 
past and specific future loading of baskets with the CBS variant 
design, would not significantly impact the quality of the human 
environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined that a finding of no 
significant impact (FONSI) is appropriate, and an environmental impact 
statement is not warranted.

[[Page 104236]]

IV. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as 
indicated.

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                    Document description                        ADAMS Accession No. or Federal Register notice
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CEG's request for exemption, dated September 19, 2024......  ML24263A206.
Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment No. 8,         ML16041A233 (Package).
 Revision No. 1, dated February 10, 2016.
Holtec International, Inc.--Notice of Violation; The U.S.    ML24016A190.
 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspection Report No.
 07201014/2022-201, EA-23-044, dated January 30, 2024.
10 CFR part 72 amendment to allow spent fuel storage in NRC- 55 FR 29181.
 approved casks, July 18, 1990.
EA for part 72 amendment to allow spent fuel storage in NRC- ML051230231.
 approved casks, March 8, 1989.
Final rule for List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks:    80 FR 49887.
 Holtec International HI-STORM 100 Cask System, Certificate
 of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision 1, dated
 August 18, 2015.
Safety Determination of a Potential Structural Failure of    ML24018A085.
 the Fuel Basket During Accident Conditions for the HI-
 STORM 100 and HI-STORM Flood/Wind Dry Cask Storage
 Systems, dated January 31, 2024.
NRC email to IL-IEMA-OHS, ``State's review of EA/FONSI for   ML24337A059.
 LSCS Exemption,'' dated November 22, 2024.
IL-IEMA-OHS email, ``State's response regarding EA/FONSI     ML24337A057.
 for LSCS Exemption,'' dated November 27, 2024.
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    Dated: December 16, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Yoira Diaz-Sanabria,
Chief, Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel 
Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-30364 Filed 12-19-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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